TRP: Larkin and Roddy (Company)
'''Abby: '''at 2:28 PM Day 208, Greenhand Pub What kind of pub didn't have a few rooms to rent. Really. Roddy was stiff and sore from sleeping on the floor, and he wasn't even well rested! He'd recharged maybe- half his spells. Not good for if they got in a fight later! He'd complained to the guy who ran the place while buying breakfast, and then headed over to where Larkin was sleeping. Curled up on some chairs, right outside her dad's room. Poor Larkin, her whole life had crumbled around her. Maybe she was better off for it, but Larkin didn't think so. Not right now, anyway. Least Roddy could do was maybe offer a sympathetic ear. And breakfast. "Hey, Larkin," he said softly, setting the tray down to rap the back of one of the chairs. "You awake?" '''Jen: '''at 2:34 PM Larkin jerked awake at the rattling. She was half-way up and on her feet before she realized it was just Roddy standing there. God, she'd slept like a fucking stone, and on these hard chairs even. She should heckle the Greenhand about getting some cushioned ones. She slumped back down, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, I'm awake. Man... what time is it?" '''Abby: '''at 2:36 PM Roddy jerked back as Larkin lunged up. She was fast-- it startled him. Breathed a sigh of relief as she settled back down and apparently decided he wasn't someone she wanted to stab. "I dunno. Morning. Brought food," he said, pointing, at the tray. "Do you mind if I join you?" '''Jen: '''at 2:38 PM "Ugh." Larkin groaned for an answer, but shoved a chair free off her make-shift bunk bed so Roddy could sit on it. She yawned and eyed the plate of food he carried, hoping there was coffee somewhere on it '''Abby: '''at 2:48 PM Roddy gave her hers-- with the coffee-- and settled in the chair she'd given with his own. He fell quiet for a minute, letting Larkin wake up a bit more before initiating conversation. '''Jen: '''at 2:56 PM Larkin took the coffee and blew on it a few times before taking a sip. Skalding hot and thin, but coffee. "How'd you sleep?" She asked. Larkin hadn't seen where Roddy'd had made his bed last night but given their circumstances, it could've hardly been better than hers. At least Pa had an actual cot to sleep on. '''Abby: '''at 2:58 PM "Eh," Roddy waggled his hand back and forth. "Would have been better if there was actually beds here," he grumbled. "Really hope we don't bump into Jonesy again. My magic's still low." '''Jen: '''at 3:00 PM "God." Larkin rubbed her face with one hand. "Let's just not, alright?" '''Abby: '''at 3:02 PM "Yeah," Roddy said, poking idly at his breakfast. "Agree with you there." He fell quiet for a second, then looked up and back at Larkin. "Hey. Are you- doing okay? With all," he gestured, indicating things at large. '''Jen: '''at 3:05 PM "Huh?" She looked around before realizing he didn't really mean the room. "Oh. Yeah... uhm." It's fine, she wanted to say but couldn't tell the lie, somehow. Maybe it was the sleepiness; maybe it was just so damn not fine. "Well... okay, not gonna lie. It fucking sucks. Dunno what to do with all... that." She also gestured around, like Roddy had just now. '''Abby: '''at 3:10 PM Roddy nodded. "Yeah, I know that feeling." He chewed at his lip a moment, considering. "When I got kicked out of the circus... I didn't know what I'd end up doing with myself either. It was my life y'know? All I knew. And then it was gone. It was gone and I had to figure out what- pieces I had left over to work with." '''Jen: '''at 11:21 PM Larkin scoffed into her coffee. "Not many of those goin' around." She took a sip and cringed at the burning. "Pretty much all you see here. In one fucking room." '''Abby: '''at 11:30 PM "Yeah," Roddy said, glancing around. It wasn't much. "Y'know, more than I had though. We'll help. Whatever it is you end up doing. You're our team, yeah?" he said, giving a crooked grin. '''Jen: '''at 11:42 PM Larkin couldn't help but smile back. "Uhu. Thanks." She doubted Roddy would be in with what she had in mind, though. Much less Goro. They wouldn't wanna throw themselves into the street fighting that way sure to errupt now, trying to hold together the last bits of the Basha empire for when Renar returned. Larkin couldn't even blame them. Why would they? '''Abby: '''at 11:46 PM Comfort successful. Roddy gave himself a mental pat on the back. Even got a smile out of Larkin! "How's your dad doing?" he asked, glancing back at the room. "With all... this." '''Jen: '''at 8:15 AM She shrugged. "He's not happy, obviously, but other than that... He hasn't really been part of the family business for years, so... He's mostly worried for me." Larkin rolled her eyes. Worried, yes, but more about her choosing to stay loyal to Renar instead of doing her own thing, whatever the hell that would be. Her father had the same perspective on it as Goro- the same outsider perspective. They didn't really understand. "Hey, Roddy," she said, "did you ever, like, regret going away? From your family?" '''Abby: '''at 8:21 AM Roddy had to take a minute to think about that one. Did he regret it. Well... "Overall, I'm happier now than I ever was in the circus," he said slowly. "I've got great friends, great family, and being an adventuerer is dangerous and all but there's something really satisfying about taking down things like Diva you know?" he said. "But... at the same time. I miss it sometimes. Or well, maybe it would be more accurate to say I miss what might have been. But at the end of the day- I am glad I got kicked out." He gave a cheesy grin and reached over to poke Larkin's arm. "Wouldn't have made friends with you if I didn't!" '''Jen: '''at 3:40 PM Larkin smirked. "Sure. I'm the best of the bunch, huh?" Admittedly, it was kind of reassuring to hear that. Roddy had los his old life, too, but found something... different. But it wasn't the same for Larkin, was it? She could still fight. She could try and restore her life. Wouldn't have to figure out what the fuck else to do then. '''Abby: '''at 3:47 PM "Eeeeh," Roddy said, making a face and making a so-so gesture with his hand. "Although to be fair you are in competition with my dad for that title." He grinned, he was joking around a little, keeping the mood light. "M'glad you're on the team though. You're like... the sensible one. Rude, but sensible." '''Jen: '''at 3:50 PM This time, she snorted onto her coffee and the hot stuff spilled over her hand. Larkin cursed and set the mug down. "Thanks, I guess?" She waved her fingers in the air to cool them a little. "Wouldn't say I'm rude, just... y'know. Direct. But I can live with that." '''Abby: '''at 3:55 PM Roddy sat up a little straighter, tracking Larkin's burned fingers. Seemed to be mild though. No cause for alarm. "Oh yeah that too," Roddy agreed, leaning back in his chair. "To our grumpy little stabby, rude and direct tiefling, Larkin," he said, toasting her with his mug. '''Jen: '''at 6:33 PM This time, Larkin laughed aloud. Just one, short bark of laughter but it felt good nonetheless. "Stabby?" She said, chuckling, "who've I stabbed to deserve that, huh?" '''Abby: '''at 6:41 PM Roddy started to say something and stopped. Hang on... "Well you have a very stabby aura," he said. "And y'know you were one of the ones like 'hey lets skin those people and hang 'em over the side' when we got Sugar. So. Yes. Stabby." '''Jen: '''at 6:52 PM Larkin blinked a few times, mulling this over. "Well, uh," she said, "that was totally utilitarian. Get the job done, yeah? I don't... usually do that kinda thing. I mean-" she gave a quick shake of her head. "I never fucking skin people. God. I'm not Raef." '''Abby: '''at 6:58 PM "Larkin you and I have very different ideas of 'getting the job done'," Roddy said. Ignoring that thing about Raef, that had been freakish to find out about and Roddy was not opening up that can of worms again. "It's okay, I'm squeamish, and you're good at getting the more-- violent parts of the job done," he said, patting her arm again. '''Jen: '''at 7:02 PM She smirked, shrugged, and dropped her gaze to the plate of food, looking for something that wouldn't be too heavy on her sleepy stomach. She settled for a piece of bread and cheese. '''Abby: '''at 7:56 AM Roddy got a smile out of her, yessss. Roddy glanced over, at the pub still full of their teammates in varying stages of awake-ness. "Hey. When do you think we'll, y'know, leave here?" Roddy asked. "You know it's-- not viable for a long-term base." '''Jen: '''at 7:58 AM "I'm not leaving, soon," Larkin said. "You can go but- shit, where am I supposed to take Pa? Nothing's fucking safe, and I gotta stay with him." '''Abby: '''at 8:01 AM "If nothing's safe then why not the castle, or maybe Mishka's place?" Roddy asked. "I know you wanna keep your dad safe, and we'll help, but-- well I told you. I haven't recharged all my magic. I can't without a good night's rest." '''Jen: '''at 8:10 AM Larkin swallowed a piece of bread and rolled her eyes. "Fuck the castle, Roddy. I've fucking had it with everyone insisting the damn thing is the best fucking place in the world. Yeah, right, I'm gonna put my dad in a place that's four hours away from here, with Sanguines lurking in every corner and Jonesy's own private docking place. For fucking sure." '''Abby: '''at 8:16 AM Roddy shrugged. "Okay not the castle then." They still didn't know how the Sanguines got in. Roddy preferred not to think about that for the most part. (When he did he got nervous.) "We've got other places though," he pointed out. "Places that are ours, that we can defend better. I know the guy is loyal here but... if we stay too long we might get attention, and get in a fight, he might lose his place. Better to go hang out where there's less collateral damage risk, yeah?" '''Jen: '''at 8:31 AM "You're underestimating the Greenhand," Larkin said with a glance in the direction of the bar. "Old fuck's lived through more than any of us, and outlive us all probably. He knows what he's in for." Still, Roddy wasn't quite wrong about this being a bad place to hold out. It wasn't really defendable should anyone get in. And the Greenhand hadn't lived this long by being stupid. If it meant his life, he'd get rid of them. "Hey, you think Haeth would... would take us in?" '''Abby: '''at 1:19 PM Success! Roddy was not going to look smug about it. "Absolutely," he said. "He's on the team now! And-- hey your dad and him used to sail together right? Yeah!" Larkin would not want to hear excited ramblings about hanging out and stuff, that was a Roddy thing. "Y'know Mishka, he'll have a bunch of bolt holes and everything else. Sure he'd be glad to talk about security measures with you. It'll be great!" '''Jen: '''at 4:39 PM "Uh-huh. Great," Larkin said around a mouth full of bread, not sounding enthusiastic at all. "Can't wait to shoot the breeze with Mishka while we wait for whoever's coming for us next." '''Abby: '''at 4:49 PM Roddy patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. We blew up one pirate ship, we can blow up some more." '''Jen: '''at 4:50 PM She nodded. "A fucking catapult or a balista is what we need. Something to defend the estate with." '''Abby: '''at 4:58 PM "That sounds so cooooool," Roddy said, bouncing lightly and looking excited. "Terrorize the seas, from the safety of our own home. You have the best ideas." '''Jen: '''at 5:03 PM Larkin snorted and shook her head. "Man, where d'you get all that fucking... positive energy." She flapped a hand at him, indicating all of Roddy. "Like it's just a game we're playing but you know it's not, don't you?" '''Abby: '''at 5:11 PM Oh uh-- huh. Roddy hadn't thought he was particularly- positive. But then again, compared to Larkin... He made a face as he thought about it. Where did he get all that positive energy? "Well," he said slowly, "I guess it's cause-- I think, when it comes down to it, I think all this is worth it," he said, gesturing at their friends out in the pub. "I found people that care about me you know? I got a family, I got friends, and I know you guys have my back. Least I can do is have yours." "I don't wanna die," he said, matter-of-fact, "but we're in a risky line of business. And when it comes right down to it... I it'd be worth it to die watching you guy's backs. Better than jumping at shadows watching my own. So, I guess, to put it simply-- I'm happy, Larkin." '''Jen: '''at 5:18 PM Larkin opened her mouth to tell him how she'd been sarcastic and wasn't really asking to hear the whole sob story behind it. Roddy sounded so... genuine, though. Actually happy. Saying that would be just mean and Larkin had no reason to be mean to Roddy. So she closed her mouth just shook her head again, looking away into the room. '''Abby: '''at 5:21 PM "Hey, it's okay," Roddy said-- not really sure what was wrong. "I know. Bad time for you and all. Sorry. Do uh, do you want me to leave you alone for a bit?" '''Jen: '''at 5:24 PM "Eh... sorry, Roddy. That's nice for you, and all, I just don't... uhm. Yeah, I don't know what to say. Might need more coffee." She raised the mug at him and took a sip. '''Abby: '''at 5:29 PM "Nah I get it," Roddy said, getting up. "I'm a lot I know. S'good you put up with me for this long. I'll see you around," he said, giving a little wave before taking off. Roddy was pretty sure he'd helped her, at least a little. Couldn't do much for the crushing weight of loosing everything, all he could do was remind Larkin that she wasn't alone. Because she wasn't. She had them. '''Abby: '''at 5:36 PM END Title: Company Summary: Larkin and Roddy talk the day after the Basha empire was taken down. Larkin is glad for the empathy Roddy has to offer. Category:Text Roleplay